Alice Mann loved Vernon, and Vernon loved her

Photo: Greater Vernon Museum and Archives

Alice Mann at home in 1958.

More than ever, Vernon residents need to band together to weather the COVID-19 storm.

It is with cooperation and compassion that our city has faced many tragedies in the past. Kindness is contagious, as the story of one remarkable Vernon woman reveals. 

Alice Mann and her family came to Vernon from England in 1910. At 22, the young entrepreneur entered into a partnership with Frank Nicklen and opened the Okanagan Bakery and Cafe in the 3100 block of Barnard, now 30th, Avenue.

The bakery quickly became a hidden gem known for its high teas, lady fingers and cakes. Alice, with the help of her brother Tommy, a baker who entered the business in 1931, produced close to 1,000 loaves of bread per day.

After Nicklen retired, Alice bought his share of the business, as well as the property which housed the bakery.
On Nov. 9, 1958, a fire ripped through the bakery. Alice fled through a newly installed fire escape as searing flames blocked the main entrance. An aerial ladder was used to get Tommy off the roof, where he was trapped.

Alice was alive, but found herself with no business, and some $147,000 in damages.
The community of Vernon was quick to respond in her hour of need. Doug Kermode, a celebrated local photographer, along with Joe Peters and Ed Openshaw, started a fund to help support Alice until the building could be repaired.

The community responded in excess, and helped Alice to quickly get back on her feet. A year later, she took out a permit to begin construction on a new, three-storey building at the same location. As Alice noted later in life, it was opened just in time for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's 1960 visit to the city.

Alice would never forget the kindness Vernon's citizens had shown her and tried to "pay it forward" for the remainder of her life. She raised thousands of dollars by participating in walks for individuals with intellectual and developmental challenges.

She was also a member of the Business and Professional Women's Club and the Garden Club. But Alice was mostly known for her willingness to lend a helping hand or a sympathetic ear.

"I'm known as 'Soft Alice,'" she joked in a 1972 Vernon News Article, "Otherwise I could have been a millionaire by now."

In 1972, Alice was named Good Citizen of the year. Mayor Stuart Fleming surprised her with the news at home, and she responded with tears and disbelief.

"Oh, I can't be," she proclaimed, before burying her tearful face into the mayor's shoulder. But the award was well earned. Fleming later told the Vernon News, "Alice has probably been involved in every community organization in the city, as a person, over the past 50 years."

After her retirement, Alice moved into a spacious home on 24th Avenue, where she enjoyed painting, gardening and reading. But mostly, she loved gazing out at the view her house provided of the city and surrounding scenery.

"I have always lived on a hill," she said, "and I like to look over the city. I love this city - I adore it."